Thorn woke up to the sounds of loud music booming from the other room. The black-haired goth was quite groggy still. As she got out of bed, she pushed her mother's Wicca book which she had fallen asleep with to the side. She'd gotten around halfway through the book now, and was finding it quite interesting.
The goth quickly changed out of her gray pajama pants and blue pajama shirt, into a purple t-shirt and blue jeans, as she left the salmon-colored walls of her bedroom.
"What is going on?" Thorn asked, her tone coming off more disoriented than frustrated.
"Sorry, we knew you had to get up in ten minutes anyway." Dusk apologized, as she turned the volume on the record player down. "Luna and I were talking about what song we might want to cover, so I'm playing her a song."
Thorn didn't respond for a moment so she could listen to the song. As the song went on, Thorn recognized the lyrics.
"Oh, I know this song. It's "A Forest" by The Cure." Thorn remembered. "I really like this song."
"Yeah, it's wicked." Dusk nodded.
"I hear her voice and start to run into the trees." Robert Smith's voice came from the record player.
"Reminds me of our little run-in with Sarah Ravencroft last year." Luna observed.
"I'd love to cover this." Thorn agreed. "Although I was also thinking of doing a Siouxsie and the Banshees cover."
"You don't want to do "A Forest"?" Dusk inquired.
"There's nothing saying we can't do both." Luna pointed out. "We have two spots left open on our CD, and Gus said he thought it was a good idea."
"Fair point." Dusk acknowledged. "What Siouxsie song were you thinking of?"
"Maybe we could do "Cry," since It would fit with the environmental theme that Gus wanted us to go with." Luna butted in.
"I think "Green Fingers" would also fit." Dusk suggested.
"That song kinda weirds me out a little." Luna admitted. "Isn't that about a woman being buried in her own garden?"
"I've always loved "Fear (of the Unknown)," personally." Thorn suggested.
"Oh, that's such a good one!" Dusk exclaimed. "But I like "Cry" too."
"So we've decided to cover "A Forest," but we're debating between "Fear (of the Unknown)" and "Cry," is that right?" Luna recapped.
"Yeah. Gus will be happy that we figured out what to cover." Dusk guessed. "Now all we've got to do is just agree on the Siouxsie song, and we've got the tracklist for our first album!"
"That's the wrong medicine, young lady!" a very angry woman exclaimed.
"Oh…" Thorn said, blushing as she looked at the label. She was currently filling an order and realized she had accidentally picked up Mr. Neilson's pills, instead of Ms. Nelson's. "You're right. I'm so sorry about that!"
"Young people today are so clumsy!" Ms. Nelson muttered, as Thorn went back to grab the correct prescription.
"Here you go, ma'am. I'm really sorry about the mix-up." Thorn handed her the correct pills. "Do you have any questions for the pharmacist about your medication?"
"Thankfully, I don't. I doubt you could have given me the correct answer anyway!" Ms. Nelson sneered, as she slapped a twenty dollar bill on the counter and grabbed the medication.
Thorn let out a stressed sigh as Ms. Nelson left the pharmacy, slamming the door behind her. Noticing Thorn's frustration, Robert walked over to his daughter to comfort her.
"Ugh, I'm so stupid." Thorn sighed. "I almost gave that woman the wrong pills, and now she hates me."
"Don't be upset with yourself, Thorn." Robert reassured. "Ms. Nelson is always in a surly mood. It's got nothing to do with you."
"I could have hurt her if she would have taken the wrong pills, though." Thorn whimpered.
"That is definitely something you need to watch closer." Robert looked troubled. "That's why we always ask the customer to read the label to ensure it's the correct medication before they pay. You just have to remember to ask them to do that."
"She didn't really give me the chance, though. She pounced on me before I could ask if she had any questions." Thorn informed.
"That definitely sounds like Ms. Nelson." Robert chuckled. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Sally."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Thorn nodded, though not fully believing it yet. The goth took a look up at the clock and saw it was a minute past noon. "Oh geez, it's already 12. I've gotta go pick up Luna. We've got a meeting with Gus today, too."
"Oh, you do? Good luck with your meeting! I'm so proud of you for following your dream, sweetie." Robert beamed.
"Love you, daddy." Thorn responded warmly, as she put on a red sweatshirt she had set by her workstation.
"Love you too, honey. Have a great day!" Robert said, as Thorn headed out the door.
Thorn was just parking the car at Jack's after picking up Luna. Around half of the leaves had fallen off the trees now. Some of the remaining leaves were pretty shades of yellow or red, but others had turned a drab, wilted brown.
"Oh, look who's here." Thorn pointed to Bridgit's red convertible parked right behind the Soccer Mom Van. Nia, Bridgit and Sam would occasionally hang out at Jack's for lunch with the girls, but not more than once a week.
"Oh yeah." Luna acknowledged. "Maybe they'll want to give you another Wicca lesson."
"That would be great!" Thorn admitted, as she held the door to Jack's open for Luna. "It's been really fun learning more about Wicca. I've already read half of that book my mom gave me."
"You have?" Nia exclaimed, apparently overhearing her.
"Do you want to talk more about Wicca?" Bridgit asked eagerly.
"Sure." Thorn laughed. "We were just talking about that, actually."
"Oh great!" Bridgit exclaimed. "We don't really talk about Wicca with that many people, so it's always nice to get to talk about it. I can't remember what I talked about last time, though."
"I think we were talking about grounding and centering." Thorn reminded.
"Oh yeah! So, to recap, grounding is a way to connect your personal energy to the Earth's. To ground yourself, find the most comfortable position you can. Then, place your palms face down on the ground and take several deep breaths. Once you do that, if you need energy, visualize the energy flowing up from the Earth and coursing through your body." Bridgit explained.
"On the other hand, if you're feeling generous and want to give the Earth some of your energy, imagine the opposite: visualize the energy flowing from your body deep into the Earth." Nia added.
"How long should you do it?" Thorn asked.
"However long you need." Sam clarified.
"People visualize it in different ways. Some people imagine themselves as a tree, getting or giving energy from the Earth. Others just imagine the energy coursing through their bodies. There's no wrong way to do it." Bridgit pointed out.
"You also might want to center your energy. To do that, sit in a comfortable position and focus all your emotional, physical and mental energy on the center of your body." Nia explained.
"Where is the center?" Thorn asked.
"It's in different places for everyone." Bridgit explained. "To find it, you just have to picture something or someone you really love, and wherever you feel that warm, fuzzy feeling, that's where your center is."
"Oh, wow!" Thorn exclaimed. "I didn't realize Wicca focused so much on meditation. I've never really meditated much before, so hopefully I won't do it wrong or something."
"There's no wrong way to meditate." Sam informed. "You can either concentrate on one thing, or be mindful of all the thoughts and feelings you have. It's just whatever works best for you."
"If you ever get distracted while meditating, that's okay too. Just redirect your mind back to focusing on the meditation if you notice you're doing that." Bridgit added.
"One way to calm yourself if you're really having trouble is to relax each of the muscles in your body one by one." Nia suggested.
"That sounds like such an amazing way to get rid of stress." Thorn excitedly responded. "I can't wait to try it!"
"Yeah. Anxiety sends off negative energy in the world, which is never good." Sam stated.
"Should we talk more about rituals?" Bridgit inquired.
"Sure." Nia shrugged. "Rituals are a combination of meditation, music and prayer."
"It's collective meditation to use your energy to create a shared feeling, or communicate something to gods, if you believe in them." Sam elaborated.
"You don't have to believe in Gods to practice Wicca. At least in our opinion, there's no wrong way to be a Wiccan if you want to be." Bridgit argued.
From a distance, Thorn could see Dusk walking over to their table carrying a platter with two sandwiches and a thermos of coffee.
"Hey, do you guys want a -" Dusk's heart leaped as the thermos of coffee toppled over, soaking one of the sandwiches. "Dammit!"
"I didn't know they served dammits here." Luna teased.
"I'll order a son-of-a-bitch if you've got any left." Thorn playfully added.
"Stop mocking me!" Dusk growled, half playfully and half in seriousness.
"Sorry." Thorn apologized. "Your clumsiness is cute, though."
"No it isn't!" Dusk defended, as she bustled back towards the kitchen. "I've got to remake this turkey sandwich now."
"Anyway, I'd love to do a ritual with you guys sometime, if you'd be open to it." Thorn offered.
"Oh my gosh, we'd love that!" Bridgit gleefully gasped.
"Awesome! Just let me know whenever it would work best." Thorn answered.
"I know you have the concert here at Jack's tonight, but do you have any plans tomorrow?" Nia asked. "It's a full moon, and people usually align their rituals with cycles of the moon."
"No. Just work in the morning." Thorn stated.
"Perfect! Does it work to come over after dinner at 7?" Sam asked. "We can start setting up the altar then, and decide what type of ritual we want to do."
"Wait...altar?" Luna spoke up for the first time in the conversation.
"It just adds to the experience if you have stuff like candles and a prayer circle and stuff." Sam clarified.
"Yeah, 7 works. I'm really excited!" Thorn exclaimed.
"Sounds really interesting." Luna added.
"I'm so glad! I can't wait to do a ritual with you guys either!" Bridgit answered, as Dusk came out from the back. She looked very hurried as she slipped on her blue jacket, and headed for the girls' booth.
"We've got to get to our meeting with Gus." Dusk pointed at the time. Thorn was so caught up in the conversation that she hadn't noticed it was already 1:32.
"We'll see you girls tonight for the concert, and tomorrow for the ritual!" Nia said, maybe a little louder than she should have. A man in a red shirt a few booths down gave them a strange look, which Thorn found unfortunate.
"Ritual?" Dusk also gave Thorn a strange look.
Thorn and Luna would certainly have a lot to catch Dusk up on in the car, to say the least.
"There are my groovy goths!" Gus cheerfully opened his shut office door for the girls.
"Hello, Gus!" Thorn said with a wave.
"Hi!" Luna greeted.
"Hey." Dusk responded.
"So, first things first, what's the update on the album?" Gus began.
"We picked out one of our covers, but we're still debating on another one." Dusk explained.
"We know we want to do Siouxsie and the Banshees, we're just not sure whether to do "Fear (of the Unknown)" or "Cry."" Thorn further elaborated.
"Well, the original songs are both from the same album, so at least you agree what type of sound you want." Gus chuckled. "Personally, I think "Cry" fits more with the environmental aspect of your artistic image, but it's ultimately up to you."
"Dusk, you're the tiebreaker. Do you still not have a preference?" Luna inquired.
"I think either works." Dusk shrugged.
"What's the other cover you have decided on?" Gus questioned.
"We chose "A Forest" by The Cure." Thorn informed.
"An excellent choice." Gus approved. "It's one of my favorite songs from The Cure, personally. That goes with your environmental theme, as well."
"So then we should cover "Cry" so that one goes with the environmental theme too?" Dusk asked.
"How about this?" Gus hypothesized. "Ignore the environmental theme. If you don't think about that, what song feels most authentically like you?"
"I like "Fear (of the Unknown)" better." Dusk acknowledged.
"Yeah, I think I do too." Luna nodded.
"I think, although "Cry" is about something we're passionate about, "Fear (of the Unknown)" is super relatable to all three of us. We all get worried about things that seem unfamiliar and scary to us." Thorn admitted.
"Well, it sounds like you have your decision, then." Gus smiled.
"We do?" Dusk asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I think we do." Thorn responded before Gus could. "We were putting so much pressure on ourselves to fit the environmental theme that we forgot to think about what was most meaningful to us as artists. Do you remember when we used to dance to that song as little kids, Dusk?"
"Yeah." Dusk laughed, blushing a bit.
"I loved that song as a kid too. I always related to it, more than any other Siouxsie and the Banshees song." Luna jumped in.
"Exactly." Gus nodded. "Besides, there's nothing saying you girls can't cover "Cry" on another album in the future, if you so choose. It sounds like "Fear (of the Unknown)" feels more personal to you right now though, which is what's important when you're putting together an album, especially when it's your first."
"So that means…" Dusk gasped.
Gus finished Thorn's sentence before she could.
"You've finished choosing every song for your first album." Gus grinned with happiness for the band.
"Oh my god!" Thorn exclaimed.
"I can't believe it!" Luna gasped.
"Oh, the work's far from over, though. You've only recorded "Hex Girl," so we'll need to record the other 11 tracks." Gus reminded. "And do we have a title for the album in mind?"
"I think we were all just thinking Hex Girl." Thorn shrugged, as the other two girls nodded in agreement.
"I quite like that. Simple, but effective." Gus agreed.
"How long does recording take?" Luna inquired, redirecting back to the original subject.
"However long it needs to. Typically, we reserve a recording studio here for a number of days, and you girls just record your songs. The days don't have to be all in a row if you don't want them to be. If you're not satisfied with the way something comes out, then we record it again until you are." Gus explained.
"We can do it all in one week?" Thorn inquired.
"Well, not everyone does it that way. There are plenty of artists who choose to spread it out." Gus informed. "But if you girls are that motivated, we certainly can."
Thorn looked at Dusk and Luna for a moment.
"I say we go for it." Dusk suggested. "Plus, it'll make for a great story of how we recorded our album in just a week!"
"Yeah. When are we going to have this kind of opportunity again?" Luna agreed.
"Excellent! We'll start recording tomorrow, then. Speaking of which, I wanted to ask if you've thought about a music video for "Hex Girl" at all." Gus inquired.
"We've thought about it a little." Thorn admitted. They were so caught up in the album-making process that they hadn't stopped to seriously consider creating music videos.
"I think we should make one, though." Dusk urged. "Especially now while the song's getting so popular."
"My recommendation exactly." Gus agreed. "Do you have any particular location or concept in mind?"
"Well…" Thorn laughed, because she thought her idea was silly. "The three of us have talked about it and…"
"Oh no, Thorn, you're not going to tell him that idea." Dusk looked embarrassed.
"You can tell me." Gus promised. "It's your first time creating a music video. I'm not going to laugh at you or anything silly like that."
"Well…" Thorn stuttered. "I was thinking it could take place at a record label building like this one. The three of us would act like we weren't signed yet, and there'd be a snotty producer who refused to listen to us or our music. So we'd like...playfully...mess him up a little bit, and then play our song, and he'd love it, and the end of the music video would be us getting signed."
Thorn was blushing profusely when she had finished explaining her idea. After a short pause, she continued speaking. "We thought of this before we were signed, so it was just a silly idea. We don't have to use it or anything."
"Girls…" Gus said, with a very serious look on his face. The stern look quickly changed into a flamboyantly excited smile. "I love it!"
"Really?" Thorn looked equally surprised and confused.
"Yes, it's a marvelous idea!" Gus enthusiastically confirmed. "It's like a metaphor for you shaking up the music industry with your different style of music."
"I can't believe you like it!" Dusk gasped.
"Of course I like it! It's a brilliant idea." Gus smiled. "Now, you girls don't have to say yes, but I had a recording session originally scheduled for tomorrow that got cancelled at the last minute. Given this, if you're open to it, I have the time to start helping you girls record your album tomorrow. We'll meet every day in the afternoon through next Thursday."
"Woah!" Dusk exclaimed in surprise. "I mean, sure...but that's so quick!"
"We have the album done, so we might as well just record tomorrow while Gus has the time." Thorn said, looking at Luna to make sure she was alright with it too.
"Yeah. Everything's happened so fast, so why should this be any different?" the red-haired Hex Girl laughed. "Are we doing the music video next week too?"
"We certainly can, if you'd like." Gus offered. "Perhaps next Thursday once your whole album is recorded."
Thorn pondered for a moment before responding. "I say we go for it."
"Yeah. What other band can say they recorded their whole album and a music video in one week? I think that'd be wicked." Dusk replied.
"Fine by me." Luna agreed.
"How's our song doing on the charts, by the way?" Thorn asked.
"Oh, I was saving the best for last." Gus smirked, motioning for the girls to come look at his computer screen.
"Oh my god!" Dusk looked like she was about to faint when she saw the chart.
"#42?" Thorn gasped. "That's amazing!"
"And it's been played on the radio 1,143 times this week?! How is that even possible?" Luna said in awe.
"Now we have to put out that music video ASAP." Dusk said with a significant amount of seriousness in her voice.
"So it's settled then." Gus concluded. "If it works for you, let's plan to meet at 9 tomorrow morning in my office, and I'll lead you to the recording studio."
"That sounds like fun!" Thorn smiled.
"I'm glad you think so! Creating music should be fun, not some sort of drudgery." Gus gave his insight. "I see we've already gone past our time, and I have another meeting I need to be at soon. It was wonderful getting to meet with you girls, and I can't wait for tomorrow."
"We can't either!" Thorn responded.
"This is all just happening so fast." Luna shook her head in shock.
"It sure is, but I love it." Dusk replied. "I can't believe it. By this time next week, we will have not only recorded our entire first album, but our first freaking music video!"
Upon arriving back at Jack's, the girls noticed Bridgit, Nia and Sam were still there, sitting in the same booth as they were when Thorn, Dusk and Luna left for their meeting with Gus.
"You guys never left?" Dusk said in surprise.
"Yeah, we just thought it was more convenient to stay here." Bridgit shrugged.
Of course, their three biggest fans wouldn't even entertain missing a Hex Girls concert, but spending their entire day at Jack's just to see the concert seemed a bit much to Thorn.
"Girls, you're back!" Jack exclaimed, as he came out from the kitchen. "If ya can spare Dusk, I need a little extra help tonight. A group's here to celebrate their Sweet Sixteen, so we've got extra customers to serve."
Jack pointed to a group of ten people sitting together. Several tables had been pushed together to accommodate them.
"Are you guys okay setting up on your own?" Dusk inquired.
"We should be fine." Luna answered.
"Okay, wonderful! I'll have her back to ya by the time the show starts!" Jack promised. With that, Dusk headed into the kitchen with Jack, as Thorn and Luna were left to set up on their own. They had become so used to setting up at Jack's that it wasn't a problem at all not to have their third member helping. Within a matter of a few minutes, they were able to set up all their instruments. Luna even set up Dusk's instruments just in case she didn't make it back in time.
Just as they were all set up, Dusk bustled back out to her bandmates, sloppily hanging up her waitress outfit on a peg in the kitchen.
"Umm, miss!" a woman called from the Sweet Sixteen table. "You forgot to bring my daughter her free slice of birthday pie!"
"Oh shit." Dusk muttered, before raising her voice to a normal tone to talk to the woman. "I'll grab it in just a minute, ma'am."
"Hurry though, Dusk, we need to perform in a few minutes." Luna pointed at the clock. It was 5:27, three minutes before they were set to perform.
"Damn...um...Thorn, can you please help to speed things up?" Dusk asked.
"Sure. Just tell me what you need me to do." Thorn said.
"Can you just grab the whipped cream out of the fridge while I cut a slice of the pie?" Dusk inquired, once they had walked back into the kitchen together. "It's on the bottom shelf."
"Okay." Thorn said, as she knelt down on the floor to grab the whipped cream.
"Thanks, Thorn." Dusk appreciated, as she grabbed a plate from the cupboard above Thorn's head. Unfortunately for her, Dusk lost her grip, causing the plate to tumble to the floor.
"Fuck!" Thorn exclaimed, as she felt a burst of pain singe through her right hand. Taking the whipped cream in her left hand, she looked down to see her other hand bleeding. She quickly discovered the source of it was a piece of the plate Dusk dropped, which shattered right on her hand.
"Oh my god!" Dusk shrieked. "Umm...uhhh...we need to take the piece out of your hand."
Dusk's hands were shaking with terror as she pulled the shard of plate out of Thorn's hand.
"Shit." Thorn whimpered.
"Fuck me and my clumsiness! Oh god...what do I do?" Dusk panicked.
"It's okay." Thorn had a momentary sense of calm, almost as if she was so freaked out that the emotions were coming out the opposite of how she felt inside. "Uhh...it's not bleeding that badly. It's just a cut that didn't go that deep."
"Let's...let's just get out of the kitchen and talk to Jack. He'll know what to do. Yeah, he'll know what to do." Dusk repeated herself due to the anxiety.
"It's fine." Thorn said, trying to remain calm. "I can still play tonight, see."
The black-haired goth picked up her guitar and tried to play a note. The cut burned so much that she yelped in pain.
"Ow." Thorn tried to keep from cursing, as not to offend anyone. "I….can't...I don't think I can play tonight."
"Oh god…" Luna said in shock.
"What happened to her?" Jack rushed over with a concerned look on his face. Bridgit, Nia and Sam were quick to follow.
"I dropped a plate on Thorn's hand, because I'm a fucking moron." Dusk self-deprecated.
"It...it hurts too much to play." Thorn stammered.
"I'll make the announcement that the concert is cancelled." Jack said. "It's not worth risking hurting yourself more."
"No, I'm fine...it just...hurts." Thorn stuttered.
"You two should still play tonight." Bridgit recommended, looking at Luna and Dusk. "We can take her back to your apartment."
"Really?" Luna asked.
"You don't have to do that just for us." Dusk dissuaded.
"It's the least we can do to help out." Nia offered.
"Okay." Dusk agreed with a nod, as Thorn handed her the keys to the car. Thorn was sure to take off the key to the apartment for herself.
"Are you okay to walk?" Sam asked with a concerned tone.
"Yeah." Thorn confirmed. "It's just a cut in my hand. I'm not losing a lot of blood or anything."
"We'll see you later." Nia waved, as she, Bridgit, Sam and Thorn began to leave Jack's.
"Umm...enjoy the concert." Thorn said in an awkward way. She had never missed her own band's concert before, so it felt weird for them to be performing without her.
"Get some rest." Dusk suggested. "Maybe then, your hand will be better in the morning."
"It won't be the same without you." Luna said.
And with that, Thorn departed Jack's with the other three girls, leaving her two bandmates behind.
It felt quite strange as Bridgit's convertible pulled into the driveway of their apartment.
"Thanks for driving me home." Thorn appreciated.
"No problem." Nia assured. "I'm sorry about your hand."
"It's okay. I'll see you for the ritual tomorrow." Thorn said, no longer as excited for it as she was at first. She acknowledged it was probably because of feeling discouraged about missing her own concert.
"Wait a minute!" Bridgit gasped. "What if...we do the ritual tonight? We could do a healing ritual for Thorn's hand."
Thorn perked up at that idea. "Yeah! I mean, it's worth a try."
"Do you have any candles on hand?" Sam inquired.
"Um...I don't think...oh wait! Yes!" Thorn suddenly remembered. "We have three from the Autumn Fest in our bathroom."
"That will be perfect!" Bridgit replied excitedly.
"Can someone carry my instrument?" Thorn requested. "I think my hand will hurt too much if I try to haul it in on my own."
"I can get it." Nia offered, as she picked up Thorn's guitar.
Thorn really had no idea of what to expect from this "ritual," but nonetheless, she was intrigued.
The girls trekked up the stairs together, with Nia walking much slower than the others given the heavy instrument she was carrying.
"Geez, how do you carry this heavy thing every concert?" Nia said, struggling to walk up the stairs. "I'm going to need a ritual just to heal my arms after I'm done with this."
Thorn chuckled. "It's not so bad once you get used to it. It's definitely a workout, though. Anyway, here's the apartment."
Thorn took her key out of her pants pocket and unlocked the door.
"Woah. You girls have got a nice place." Nia said, looking relieved once she had set down Thorn's guitar on the floor next to the door.
"Thanks." Thorn smiled. "Now, you said we need candles. I can grab them."
"You need rest." Bridgit urged the injured goth. "We can get the candles."
"Oh my goodness, I just hurt my hand. I'm not on my deathbed." Thorn chuckled, as she wandered over to the bathroom. The black-haired goth turned on the light and reached down into the cupboard below the sink, where the three candles that Kiki had given them were stored. "See, I'm fine. Now, where do we put these?"
"Just set them on that coffee table in the living room." Sam instructed.
"Now, we're just going to create a little circle here on the living room floor next to the coffee table." Bridgit explained. Thorn did as she was told, sitting between Nia and Sam. Looking over at Bridgit, Thorn noticed she had reached her hands in her back pocket. It appeared she was pulling out some sort of glossy green rock.
"This is a healing stone." Bridgit said, rolling the stone to Thorn from across the circle. "Just hold it in your hands, as you close your eyes and get into the most comfortable position possible. Now, like we explained earlier, you need to center yourself before you begin the meditation. Think of something that means a lot to you, and try to trace what part of your body the feeling is in. Once you've found it, that's where your center is."
Thorn picked up the stone in her hands and shut her eyes, trying to think of something that meant a lot to her. It was difficult to pick one person in particular, since there were a number of family and friends that meant a lot to her. Her father, who was one of the most kind, compassionate people you could ever meet. Luna, who was always trustworthy and supportive of her. Dusk, who she had been inseparable friends with since they were babies. All of these people were important to her in different ways, and she could never prioritize one over the other. One person in particular felt especially core to Thorn, though: her mother. Even though her mother was no longer on this Earth, Thorn thought about her numerous times a day. She really missed her mother, and it felt like their love for each other transcended even death itself. She stopped all other thoughts in her brain for a moment to visualize her mother: she had long black hair just like Thorn, beautiful blue eyes, and a smile that was so warm it could thaw out even the coldest of hearts. Thorn imagined her mother wearing the red dress that she had loved, with a little bit of lace on the cuff of the sleeves. It was her mother's favorite dress, and she wore it more often than any other outfit in her wardrobe.
All of a sudden, Thorn felt a warm sensation right below her chest. This feeling, she realized, was coming from her center.
"Okay." Thorn simply said, while keeping the image of her mother glued in her mind.
"Now that you've centered yourself, it's time to ground yourself through meditation. Put your palms flat on the ground, and imagine that the Earth's energy is flowing up through your body." Bridgit instructed in a soothing voice. "Pay close attention to any thoughts and feelings you have. Remember, it's okay to feel anything you want while you meditate. There are no wrong feelings."
"What if you feel sporty?" Sam questioned.
Bridgit didn't respond to Sam's ridiculous remark. Thorn didn't need any sort of visualization technique to imagine the dirty look Bridgit was likely giving Sam.
"As you do that, visualize your hand being healed by the Earth's energy while you rub the stone in between your hands. Focus on the sensation that you feel from doing this." Bridgit continued.
As Thorn began to imagine feeling the Earth's energy coming up from the floor into her body while rubbing the stone, she pictured the cut in the middle of her wounded hand. Using her mind, she began to change the image so that the cut slowly began to heal. The visualized cut started off a bright blood red, and slowly got lighter and lighter as the imagined Earthly energy continued coursing through her veins. Within a matter of minutes, the cut was gone.
"Once the cut is gone and you're ready to stop the meditation, open your eyes." Bridgit calmly said.
Thorn opened her eyes, hoping the ritual had worked. A quick look at her hand unfortunately showed her that it did not have the desired result. The cut was still there, just as red and inflamed as ever.
"Aww, damn it." Thorn swore. "It didn't work."
"It's not magic." Nia laughed. "You probably won't notice anything tonight."
"The effects of our collective positive energy and visualization aren't immediate. The point of the ritual was to help along the healing process through the Earth's energy. We all visualized your cut healing, but positive energy can't do anything immediately. It just helps your body's healing process along. It might be a few hours or even the next day before you see any effect, if the ritual worked." Bridgit explained.
"Oh." Thorn realized, her excitement level rising again a little. "That actually wasn't anything like I expected. I thought there would be chanting and spells, and...well, you know...magic."
"We like to think positive energy is magic. There are some Wiccans that chant a word or phrase during rituals, but it's not the type of magic spell you're thinking of. It's just to add to the experience and make it feel more collective." Bridgit elaborated. "In fact, most Wiccans spell magick with a 'k' to differentiate between the societal stereotypes of what magic should be."
"A lot of people think of Wicca as the type of witchcraft you see in the movies, but really, even witchcraft isn't how it's represented in the media. Spells are just being in tune with your physical, emotional and mental energy and trying to use it for good. That's all." Sam said. "It's not anything supernatural."
"Most people don't know this, but witchcraft isn't even a religion." Nia added.
"You guys know about witchcraft too?" Thorn asked, intrigued.
"Oh...well...just a little…we barely know anything." Nia seemed nervous.
Thorn gave a look of suspicion. "Wait a minute...are you guys witches?"
All of them looked pale and didn't say a word. This indirectly confirmed to Thorn that her guess was correct.
"Oh my gosh, you are witches." Thorn gasped.
"You should have just kept your fucking mouth shut, Nia." Bridgit snapped.
"I'm sorry!" Nia cried.
"Please don't hate us." Sam looked worried. "You probably won't believe us, but not all witches are evil. Witchcraft is just the practice of using energy to make spells. The spells aren't real supernatural powers or anything, it's just another word that we call our rituals."
"Calm down." Thorn comforted. "I believe you. There's a little bit about witchcraft in that Wicca book my mom gave me. I think it's cool you guys are witches."
"Oh, thank god." Bridgit breathed a sigh of relief. "So many people are so judgemental and think being a witch means we worship Satan. It's just tapping into your spiritual energy and using it for good, not anything evil."
"Yeah, Wicca is the religion and witchcraft is the practice of harnessing the energy." Nia clarified. "Not all witches are Wiccan, but all Wiccans are witches, if that makes sense."
"Also, most witches aren't using any supernatural energy they don't have." Sam elaborated. "It's just using the energy you already have to create something positive."
"That's so interesting." Thorn said in awe. "It's been awesome learning more about all this stuff."
"It really is interesting." Bridgit agreed. "I think this is enough excitement for one night, though. We should let you get to bed, so the ritual has a better chance of working. Your body needs rest."
"Sounds great." Thorn smiled. "Thank you again for doing this ritual with me. I really enjoyed it."
"Of course!" Nia responded.
"We should do it again sometime!" Bridgit suggested.
"I'd be totally down for that." Thorn nodded.
"Awesome! Have a great night!" Sam responded, as she, Bridgit and Nia headed out the door for the evening.
Thorn realized the girls were quite right. She was exhausted and needed to get to bed...but given the new excitement surrounding the girls' revelations of being witches, she'd find a way to slip in a chapter of the Wiccan book before her head hit the pillow.
Thorn's first thought when she woke up was her hand. While she'd expected an instant recovery at first, she no longer expected much now that she knew witchcraft didn't have to mean actual magic powers.
The black-haired goth lifted her right hand to her face. As her eyes inspected the back of her hand, she didn't see anything. At first, this thought provoked no reaction from Thorn, until she remembered she should have been seeing something.
The cut was completely gone. The ritual had worked.
Author's note:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
"A Forest" by The Cure is a song released in 1980 that is quite popular among the real-life goth community. For those who haven't heard it, the song has a very sinister tone discussing a "she," and it's never clarified who this "she" is. On my first listen, it reminded me of the events of Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost, particularly the lyrics "I hear her voice calling my name. The sound is deep. In the dark I hear her voice and start to run into the trees." Maybe the fact that I'm reminded of Witch's Ghost is just me, but I thought this song fit really well with the Hex Girls' musical style thus why I had them cover it.
"Fear (of the Unknown)" and "Cry" both came from the Siouxsie and the Banshees album Superstition, which was released in 1991. The girls' going back and forth between "Fear (of the Unknown)" and "Cry" essentially represents my uncertainty of which song I wanted them to cover, because I was really having a hard time deciding even as I was writing this chapter lol. Hopefully it didn't disappoint anyone that I didn't go for the more environmentally-themed of the two ("Cry"). I thought having the girls pick the other was a good message regarding the importance for artists of not sacrificing their own preferences to please their fans.
Also, once again, none of the details about Wicca or witchcraft were fabricated or made-up in any way. All the details in this chapter were thoroughly researched to ensure they reflect the actual practices and general beliefs of Wicca and witchcraft. Many people don't realize it, but witchcraft is actually not a religion; it's simply the practice of doing the rituals and spells often associated with Wicca.
As always, thanks for reading, and follows, favorites and reviews are always very appreciated!